Thread: Briggs Intek 18 HP Threw a Rod

I have a New Bob Cat 218 ES Zero Turn Mower. This mower has 21 hours on it and threw a rod. Blew a hole right through the side of the engine. The engine is a Briggs 18 Hp Intek. Has anyone ever had any similar problems with this engine?

It may be a bad moment for the engine that will hopefully be covered under warranty. It is sold as a homeowner machine, the commercials have other brand engines unless things have changed with Bob Cat since I looked at them. But still....21 hours is unacceptable and I am fairly certain someone will cover the damage rather than have the negative publicity. Sorry to hear of your experience, guess the Japanese Briggs (Vanguard) is the only good one. Sad.....

I have a New Bob Cat 218 ES Zero Turn Mower. This mower has 21 hours on it and threw a rod. Blew a hole right through the side of the engine. The engine is a Briggs 18 Hp Intek. Has anyone ever had any similar problems with this engine?

Forget everything you have read up to this point in the thread and just listen to me.
I have all the advice you will need.

Go to the Briggs web site and submit a report, or call them on Monday morning to report the failure. Give them all the info they need, including where you are taking the mower. Deliver the mower there on Monday and tell the dealer this is what Briggs told you to do and what they said about taking care of it.

You will have a new engine sitting on your unit by the next day if no one drags their feet. Briggs is the BEST engine company in the business when it comes to SERVICE, bar none. As for the long haul, that engine is also fine, usually. That is "IF" this is the engine I'm thinking it is.....

Solid black engine shroud and does not actually say Intek on the engine sticker?

If so, this is generally a much higher quality engine than the actual Intek line you see on the cheapo mowers. This is because Briggs puts quality into it and it also comes with a warranty that supports that.... the same 2 year commercial warranty all other "commercial" engines have. You should expect no more trouble out of the replacement.

Every MFG makes a bad engine on a regular basis.

If it's not that engine then I don't know why Bob-Cat would choose the other route...

At any rate, doing as I have advised will yeild a new engine quickly without problems. That is, providing the thrown rod is a MFG defect/failure and not a result of your wrong doing.

What you can expect to happen in this case is that your dealer shop will remove and disassemble the engine for inspection, then call the Briggs rep to come have a look see if he will not just go on the word of their tech. Just depends.... If you have screwed up, there is no hiding it and this is your bag. If not you get a new engine quick, no questions. The rep will probably bring one along.

__________________
ENVY

"If you place a low value upon yourself, rest assured..... the world will not raise your price."

"The bitterness of poor quality lingers on long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten"

Regardles of what Briggs or the Dealer may or may not do, and regardless of what has just been posted, the Briggs Intek is Briggs Cheapest Line of supposed "Industrial/Commercial" engine...period! It is crapola. Vanguard is their True Commercial engine and is an outstanding one! I have one in a 1992 mower that has hundreds of hours and is still running like new. Also I do believe and am pretty certain that the ES line of Bob-Cat is a Homeowner machine so you need to check your warranty paperwork if used for commercial.

__________________
"There are no stupid questions.....but there are stupid People that ask them"

A friend of mine has a trophy wife……..apparently she wasn’t 1st place though

Regardles of what Briggs or the Dealer may or may not do, and regardless of what has just been posted, the Briggs Intek is Briggs Cheapest Line of supposed "Industrial/Commercial" engine...period! It is crapola. Vanguard is their True Commercial engine and is an outstanding one! I have one in a 1992 mower that has hundreds of hours and is still running like new. Also I do believe and am pretty certain that the ES line of Bob-Cat is a Homeowner machine so you need to check your warranty paperwork if used for commercial.

The only thing different on that machine and the commercial machines is the engine.

Briggs will back you!! I bought a Little Wonder 6hp leaf blower and it had the Intek engine. It threw a rod at about 7hrs. I took it back to the dealer and they gave me a new blower on the spot. Briggs warranted the engine and I guess it was sold. Do a search and you will find complaints about every brand. I think you got a bad one. Matt